Search - Joy Lynn White :: One More Time

Please, please, please - let there be some justice !

Ole Hartvik Nyb | sweden | 02/04/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"- and let Joy Lynn White get the success she so deservedly should have. Joy's intense, desperate and heartfelt singing has no match in today's bland pop-country mainstream world. She's in the league of the also underrated angel Kelly Willis. There are so few torch singers left out there, who's still allowed to do their thing without being destroyed by the industry's whishywashy arrangements and song. This album makes the long wait worth it all; the great playing, the sparse but powerfull arrangements and the nervetrashing singing gives you an endorphin rush from the first beat. She makes feeling bad, and good, feel so good!"

White Satisfies Again "One More Time"

T. Yap | Sydney, NSW, Australia | 11/06/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Prime Cuts: Keep This Love, A Certain Boy, Just Some Girl



Before the Dixie Chicks were hatched, Joy Lynn White had been forging her way with her brand of country-rock nuanced with a control vulnerability and reckless audacity. As White's debut CD nested two latent hits ("Tonight the Heartache's on Me" and "Cold Day in July") which the Chicks later recorded flying them to great heights of popularity. Besides being an incubator for the Chicks, White has garnered the respect of many of her peers, resulting in her harmonies being added to the catalog of musical mongrels such as Dwight Yoakam, Lucinda Williams, Buddy Miller, Iris DeMent amongst others. "One More Time" is White's first album since 2002's independently released "On Her Own." Despite being co-curated by Kyle Lehning (whose has been known to helm bucolic albums by Tammy Wynette, the Derailers, George Jones, Dan Seals and Randy Travis to list a few), "One More Time" continues on the path of country-rock set by her previous CD, making few concessions to country radio. Like Lucinda Williams and Maia Sharp, though there's the presence of steel, mandolin and banjo, jarring guitars and propulsive drumming are the call of the day.



Thus far, "One More Time": has already been greeted with an auspicious start as Americana radio has already been eating up her mulling new single "Keep This Love." A pulsating country-rock tune co-written by White with Doug Millet, "Keep This Love" tells about the struggles of a couple trying their best to salvage their desecrating romance. Even more fetching is White's take on the New Orleans' bluesy romp of "A Certain Girl" which has been associated with Warren Zevon and Eric Clapton. "A Certain Girl" which is tells of love-stricken protagonist who refuses to kiss and tell when her girlfriends ask her who her new boyfriend is. Though it may sound like a throwaway novelty, but it's genuinely funny and White delivers it with sly sensuality that shows more character as a vocalist than on any other track. On the slow pensive "Just Some Girl," White goes underneath the façade of every day's niceties and unearths the loneliness, hurts and frustrations of modern living. This is soul bearing stuff at its best.



Another of this album's allure resides in White's ingenuity in her keening artistic creativity in capturing life's most acerbic moments. Case in point is "Victim of Love," where a couple is trying to converse with all the well worn clichés without revealing their honest feelings. Only to be interrupted by White with her repeated "yeah, yeah, yeah" in an attempt to blow away their false pretenses. While "Girls with Apartments in Nashville," which first appeared on White's previous "On Her Own," is a bona fide popish ballad about wannabe artists who try to try their luck on materialize their elusive dream of being country stars. Making no recess for any fairytale illusions, White chronicles the loneliness of such odyssey: "The night wind blows/And they're so far away/From the people that they know/'Cause their dreams' in Nashville."



However, not everything here is that fortuitous: there are a few tracks that somehow are not offensive, but they lack the extra bite to make them truly shine. Though, the Kostas/Joy Lynn White "I'm Free," which deals with being untangled from a love triangle, rocks like a modern day Heart song, there's nothing truly memorable about the tune. While on the title track, a co-write between White and rocker Amy Rigby belongs more to alternative rock than country. Though there are some snarling electric guitars that underscored "Good Rockin' Mama," there's nothing to elevate it from being just another tribute to mom piece. Though there are ups and downs, but there's enough on "One Time Around" that's worth the price for. White's sometimes fiery attitude coupled with her girlish-sounding sensitivity are ultimately what makes this former red head stand out among her peers. When she rocks, she does indeed rock. And when she croons a ballad, be prepared for some heart melting moments.

"

She's got chops

Brian Reed | Denver, CO | 02/24/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I read a review on Joy Lynn White in No Depression and bought it based on who she had worked with. Buddy Miller, Dwight Yoakam, and more. To the untrained ear, it may sound like pop country, but she's got more chops than anyone out there. Her lyrics are not my favorite, but her voice and band more than make up for it"